Why this ride
A 269 km round trip from Aomori - roughly 4 h 07 in the saddle. It goes by way of Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, Tagoyano Site, Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle and Kamegaoka Burial Site. It suits an unhurried touring pace.
CURVESCOUT / MOTORCYCLE RIDE
Sannai Maruyama Site and Kamegaoka Burial Site
Plan this ride
- Recorded distance
- 269 km
- Riding-time estimate
- 4 h 07
- Journey
- Recorded itinerary
Distance and timing basis
Ordered leg totals agree within rounding. Stop distances are approximate sums of rounded legs. Stops, delays, approach and any separate return travel add time. Basis: producer-declared routed record.
Reading history stays on this device. My road watch requires a separate selection; opening it does not subscribe this ride.
Distance and riding time are measured on the routed road. Check local closures and conditions before you ride.
Waypoint introductions and full write-ups
1. Sannai Maruyama Site
On the outskirts of Aomori, at the northern tip of Honshu, archaeologists working on a site for a baseball stadium in the early 1990s found the remains of a large village of the Jomon period, a hunter gatherer culture that lived in Japan for over ten thousand years. Sannai Maruyama was occupied for around a thousand years, from about 5,900 to 4,200 years ago, and its finds changed ideas about the Jomon: long houses, pit dwellings, storehouses, burial grounds, and a huge structure of six massive chestnut posts, now reconstructed as a tall wooden tower. In 2021 it became part of the World Heritage listing of Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan.
Read the complete Sannai Maruyama Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Sannai Maruyama Site is where the day begins. Next is Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan.
2. Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
At the foot of Mount Iwaki, the solitary volcano that rises above the Tsugaru plain in Aomori prefecture, there is a flat terrace where people of the Jomon period laid out a large oval ring of stones a few thousand years ago. The Omori Katsuyama stone circle is one of the sites that make up the Jomon Prehistoric Sites of Northern Japan, listed by UNESCO in 2021, and it is a quiet, grassy place where you can stand in the middle and look straight up at the mountain the builders must have looked at every day.
Read the complete Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan comes up about 37 km into the recorded legs. Next is Tagoyano Site.
3. Tagoyano Site
In the far north of Honshu, on the Tsugaru plain of Aomori Prefecture, the Tagoyano site is a shell midden left by people of the Jomon period, the long era of hunter-gatherers who lived in Japan for over ten thousand years and made some of the oldest pottery in the world. The mound consists mainly of shells of shijimi, a small freshwater clam that thrived in the brackish water of the old lagoon. Along with the shells, archaeologists found pottery, tools and bones, and the site has become part of the Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, inscribed by UNESCO in 2021. There is little to see above ground now, just a grassy area and information boards, but the picture it paints is rich: people living by water, fishing, gathering, making beautiful vessels.
Read the complete Tagoyano Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 73 km into the recorded legs you reach Tagoyano Site. Next is Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle.
4. Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle
Over three thousand years ago, Jomon people in northern Japan arranged stones into circles on a terrace at the foot of Mount Iwaki, the conical volcano that dominates the Tsugaru plain in Aomori prefecture. The Omori Katsuyama stone circle is one of these monuments, with a ring of standing and placed stones that may have been used for rituals, burials or marking the seasons. It is part of the Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, inscribed on the UNESCO list in 2021, which celebrates a culture of hunter-gatherers who settled in permanent villages and made pottery for over ten thousand years.
Read the complete Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle, about halfway. Next is Kamegaoka Burial Site.
5. Kamegaoka Burial Site
In 1887, a farmer digging in the fields near Kamegaoka, in the Tsugaru region of northern Honshu, found a strange clay figure: a stocky body covered with patterns and a face dominated by huge eyes like snow goggles. The shakōki-dogū, the goggle-eyed figurine, became one of the most famous objects of the Jōmon culture, the hunter-gatherers who lived in Japan for more than ten thousand years and made some of the oldest pottery in the world. Kamegaoka was a burial and settlement site of the final Jōmon period, about three thousand years ago, and it has yielded lacquerware, pottery and figurines of remarkable sophistication. It is part of the Jōmon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, listed by UNESCO in 2021.
Read the complete Kamegaoka Burial Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
Kamegaoka Burial Site sits at 134 km, about halfway. Next is back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle.
6. back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle comes up about 164 km into the recorded legs. Next is back through Tagoyano Site.
7. back through Tagoyano Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Tagoyano Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
about 193 km into the recorded legs you reach back through Tagoyano Site. Next is back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan.
8. back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan, late in the day. Next is Sannai Maruyama Site.
9. Sannai Maruyama Site
Return visit. Read the place description above.
Read the complete Sannai Maruyama Site write-up.
Recorded stop-planning note
May refer to an earlier itinerary; verify against your selected route before riding.
Planning note
The route ends here after 269 km.
Leg by leg
Sannai Maruyama Site to Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
Sannai Maruyama Site → Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan is 37 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan to Tagoyano Site
Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan → Tagoyano Site is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Tagoyano Site to Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle
Tagoyano Site → Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle to Kamegaoka Burial Site
Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle → Kamegaoka Burial Site is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
Kamegaoka Burial Site to back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle
Kamegaoka Burial Site → back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle is 31 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle to back through Tagoyano Site
back through Omori Katsuyama Stone Circle → back through Tagoyano Site is 29 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Tagoyano Site to back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan
back through Tagoyano Site → back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan is 36 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.
back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan to Sannai Maruyama Site
back through Jomon Prehistoric Sites in Northern Japan → Sannai Maruyama Site is 40 km of rhythm rather than effort. Let it flow and let the view breathe.